Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Sign for Home by Blair Fell

9 reviews

greatestheights's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Death of parent, Medical content, and Medical trauma

purplepenning's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

 There's a lot going on here, and the jaunty rom-com cover doesn't capture, well, any of it really. This isn't a rom-com or a romance, though there is a romance within it. It's the coming-of-age Bildungsroman tale of Arlo Dilly, a DeafBlind college-age man under the guardianship and care of a strict Jehovah's Witness uncle and a devout JW interpreter. It's also the coming-into-focus and coming-into-courage tale of Cyril Brewster, a gay middle-age ASL interpreter with an aversion to the tactile ASL required to communicate with DeafBlind clients. Their paths cross when Arlo attends an English language class at the community college and needs a second interpreter to help with it. He chooses Cyril because Cyril follows best practices for accessibility and actually tells Arlo what's going on and being said (his longtime interpreter takes a more selective/paternalistic approach). Despite his aversion to tactile, Cyril takes the contract, hoping it will finally give him the financial cushion he needs to move on and move out of Poughkeepsie. Through the class and through Cyril's interpretations, Arlo begins to see and understand more of the world, of his family, of his friends, of himself. Cyril's own story of self-discovery runs parallel to Arlo's.

This is genuinely one of the best books I've read — in fiction or nonfiction — for introducing a reader to the world and experiences of a person who is living a very different kind of life from the reader's. The story, at times heartrending, heart-pounding, and joyous, lagged in the middle for me and some of the JW content may be difficult to read for those who have experienced controlling religious groups. The writing, however, carried me through. The author does a beautiful job of conveying the voice and experiences of these characters and it's full of information about DDBHH (Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing) communication. It also avoids, calls out, and subverts lazy tropes and stereotypes (including the savior trope) and avoids lapsing into inspiration p*rn. It is inspiring, though — it's an inspiring look at the kinds of discussions we should be having and services we should be expanding for our disabled communities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Violence, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cursing, Police brutality, and Excrement

kimveach's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book!  I wish I could find these characters and become their friend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Cancer, Homophobia, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, and Medical trauma

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, and Homophobia

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Rape, Medical content, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, and Sexual content

bel017's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Arlo is DeafBlind, and sheltered in a bad way. He meets Cyril--a new (to Arlo) interpreter--when he starts a class to improve his English. Cyril teaches Arlo about his rights, and advocates for him. The blurb on GR/SG/the back of the book captures maybe the last quarter of the book. Needs a much better blurb.

I hadn't realised there was neglect, confinement and emotional abuse of a child on the page. I wouldn't have read it if I'd realised, so I skipped all those sections as best I could. Lots of fascinating, terrible and excellent information about the DeafBlind community, wrapped in a challenging but heartfelt story. By the time I realised the triggers I was in too deep and had to find out what happened.

I was shocked at how many parents of Deaf children don't learn sign language. The idea that they ... choose not to? Don't have the resources to? I don't understand. Everything was distressing.

I didn't realise this had been listed as a romance. It's not really a romance, it's a bildungsroman (coming of age story).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Confinement, and Terminal illness

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Cancer, Excrement, Outing, Blood, and Sexual harassment

uranaishi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Excrement, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, Outing, Terminal illness, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Colonisation, and Cursing

Minor: Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Deportation, Physical abuse, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - I feel divided on THE SIGN FOR HOME. I love that this is a story with perspectives we rarely, if ever, see in fiction: Deaf and DeafBlind people and culture, Jehovah's Witnesses, interpreters. There's so much here about the relationship between a DeafBlind person and their longtime interpreter, about different types of language and communication for DeafBlind people, and about confronting ableism at every turn.
- However, as much as this book was about Arlo finding himself and his liberation, I still felt a weird savior-y vibe from Cyril for a lot it. There were several completely unexamined fatphobic comments from both Arlo and Cyril. Arlo's love interest wasn't a fully developed character. And finally (SPOILER!), I absolutely did not buy Molly's abrupt change of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Suicide, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical content, and Rape

savvyrosereads's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Out April 5, 2022 [Huge thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]

The Sign for Home is the story of Arlo Dilly, a twenty-three year old man searching for love, who also happens to be DeafBlind. When Arlo learns that the things he believes about himself, his disability, and his past may not be the whole story, he enlists his new interpreter, Cyril, to help right the wrongs of the past and find the love he thought he had already lost.

I was so excited when The Sign for Home showed up at my door, both because I had been seeing it everywhere and because the synopsis sounded right up my alley, and fortunately it lived up to all my expectations. The novel starts off a bit slowly, and features chapters written in second person (which I’ve actually never encountered before!) and quite a bit of dialogue written in Deaf/ASL syntax, all of which meant it took me a little bit to get in the “groove” of reading. But, once I was there, I was fully captivated—the characters are fantastic and dynamic, each with their own faults and foibles but equally easy to love (well, in most cases!), and the plot is straightforward but with enough mystery and surprise to keep readers engaged.

This isn’t necessarily an easy read—I was heartbroken and furious on the characters’ behalf several times—but it is one of the most unique and enthralling stories I’ve encountered this year (or any year). If you want an uplifting-but-honest story that will make you smile, cry, laugh, and think, I highly recommend picking this up when it releases in April.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: unique writing styles; thought-provoking narratives; memorable characters.

CW: Ableism; homophobia; forced institutionalization; medical abuse; gaslighting; mentions of sexual assault accusations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual assault